SPITFIRE GROUP BUILD 2007-2008

gzt wrote:

Thanks Oliver ! I found one picture where it is shown with a black grip and it looks like a white tip (?) - is it right ? Greg

 It could well have a white tip. If i where you i would just paint it black for simplicity. Almost all the preserved Spitfires i have seen they have been black.

OK, here's what I managed tonight!

First, I re-done the elevators.........lots of cutting,scraping and sanding. In short, I recon it looks better than what it was. 

I also installed the airwaves fishtale exhausts.....well worth the money in my opinion. Anyway, hereare some more pics........I just could not resist mounting the prop and airscrew so see how it looks......

I glossed the airframe and will now leave it to dry for a while. Next up-weathering and undercarridge!

Many thanks for your kind words about the paintwork lads.

I've had a little more time in the shop and things are going slowly, but well. I fitted the underwing radiators today with Eduards metal grills on the inside......I think it really adds to the realism.

On that note, I re-examined the dropped elevators and decided that they just did not look "right"  so I  have removed them and I am carefully saving off bits of material until I get a better fit. I got it right on the Mk. 47, so I want to do the same here.

If all goes well, I'll get that finished up tonight and put a gloss coat on the airframe, in preperation for the weathering. 

jwb wrote:

ModelMan8 wrote: Jon, you don't thin your pollyscale?  My LHS carries it too but I can not get it to spray right from my Airbrush, it just spatters it.  My Compressor does not have a regulator(not yet anyway) but I tried different pressures and it still did not work.  About how much psi do you have it set on? CP looks very good BTW Chris Thanks! I set it at about 15-17 psi..... depending on how much the needle is bouncing. That's the psi when I depress the trigger... it's about 18-20 when not depressed. I have two airbrushes, a Paasche VL and an Aztek 470. The Paasche splattered pretty bad, the Aztek has been nearly flawless.  I've used it exclusively for a year now, and I love it. Give the air pressure a try. You also have to make sure the paint in the bottle is stirred really well. If you don't do that, it can clump and splatter. By the way- you're not too far from me. I'm just down the road, a little south of Fayetteville.

Jon, PM INBOUND!!!

ruddratt wrote:

jwb wrote: If I'm trying to do some effect, I might thin them. But 99% of the time I shoot them straight from the bottle. I'll give that a shot, Jon. The reason I asked is the only Pollyscale I've airbrushed to date has been their flat and satin coats and I usually thinned those about 10% with distilled water, but I was not sure how their colors would react to the same ratio. Thanks!

I love their flat coats! I shoot that straight too.  

jwb wrote:

If I'm trying to do some effect, I might thin them. But 99% of the time I shoot them straight from the bottle.

I'll give that a shot, Jon. The reason I asked is the only Pollyscale I've airbrushed to date has been their flat and satin coats and I usually thinned those about 10% with distilled water, but I was not sure how their colors would react to the same ratio. Thanks!

ModelMan8 wrote:

Jon, you don't thin your pollyscale?  My LHS carries it too but I can not get it to spray right from my Airbrush, it just spatters it.  My Compressor does not have a regulator(not yet anyway) but I tried different pressures and it still did not work.  About how much psi do you have it set on? CP looks very good BTW Chris

Thanks!

I set it at about 15-17 psi..... depending on how much the needle is bouncing. That's the psi when I depress the trigger... it's about 18-20 when not depressed.

I have two airbrushes, a Paasche VL and an Aztek 470. The Paasche splattered pretty bad, the Aztek has been nearly flawless.  I've used it exclusively for a year now, and I love it.

Give the air pressure a try.

You also have to make sure the paint in the bottle is stirred really well. If you don't do that, it can clump and splatter.

By the way- you're not too far from me. I'm just down the road, a little south of Fayetteville. 

jwb wrote:

ruddratt wrote: How did you thin them for airbrushing? I've been leaning towards distilled water. To be honest, I've never thinned them for general use. I always tried to experiment with ratios and thinners, and never liked the results. So I decided, as a baseline, I'd just shoot it straight. It worked perfect, and in the year I've been doing it, I never had any trouble or clogs. If I'm trying to do some effect, I might thin them. But 99% of the time I shoot them straight from the bottle. Distilled water has worked best for me when I do thin. You can use alchohol (the 90% stuff), and I've heard of some folks using Windex. Never tried that. Alchohol worked OK, but I like the water better. I'm sold on Polly Scale- it's all I buy any more. And the LHS carries them, so I have ready access. Their color line is very good, and to my eye they look great. And none of that odor like enamels have.

Jon, you don't thin your pollyscale?  My LHS carries it too but I can not get it to spray right from my Airbrush, it just spatters it.  My Compressor does not have a regulator(not yet anyway) but I tried different pressures and it still did not work.  About how much psi do you have it set on?

CP looks very good BTW

Chris

ruddratt wrote:

How did you thin them for airbrushing? I've been leaning towards distilled water.

To be honest, I've never thinned them for general use. I always tried to experiment with ratios and thinners, and never liked the results. So I decided, as a baseline, I'd just shoot it straight. It worked perfect, and in the year I've been doing it, I never had any trouble or clogs.

If I'm trying to do some effect, I might thin them. But 99% of the time I shoot them straight from the bottle.

Distilled water has worked best for me when I do thin. You can use alchohol (the 90% stuff), and I've heard of some folks using Windex. Never tried that. Alchohol worked OK, but I like the water better.

I'm sold on Polly Scale- it's all I buy any more. And the LHS carries them, so I have ready access. Their color line is very good, and to my eye they look great. And none of that odor like enamels have.

Dareen, Nice work on the paint.  The fading looks great.

Jon, Nice pit progress.  Keep us posted.

Darren, that is incredible work! If you hadn't said so, I would have sworn you masked it! Not even on my best day could I hope to match those results without masks. You are da man!

Jon, very impressive work on the 'pit! I'll be using Pollyscale paints for the camo work on mine, and based on what I've seen of how well they look when applied properly (like on your Spit interior and on Mucker's Yak-1b) it looks like I made a good choice. How did you thin them for airbrushing? I've been leaning towards distilled water.

Darren- Nice work, mate!  I really like the slightly feathered edges, definately has that worn, used look.  What problems are you having on the wings of your Seafire?  I am getting ready to start the wing assembly on mine and was wondering if there is a potential problem that I should be wary off.

Jon- Nice office!  Your detail method sounds quick and easy, and really looks great!  I am going to have to remember that one.

gzt wrote:

Jon, its a very ipressive cockpit ! I was just thinking of how did you make those sidewalls to look so good ? Did you use RAF interior green ? It looks a bit dark, doesn't  it ?  Greg

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

I actually did a hurry up job. I applied the base color, Polly Scale Br. Int. Green (it does look a bit dark in the photo.... the color itself is very good though. I love Polly Scale.) I painted some black details.... rather hurriedly.... then touched it up with Int. Green where I got sloppy. I used my Prismacolor silver pencil to do some weathering/highlighting, then applied a quick wash of Polly Scale Night black. Then I glued on the rest of the bits, which I'd painted seperately.

There are ways of doing a cockpit much better, but this method isn't too bad. 

TANGO 1 wrote:

Jon- Nice work on the Mk.IX's office! I'm very impressed with your drybrushing on the I/P, I've never been able to get the hang of that. Seat and sidewalls look good too.

Thanks so much. I actually don't dry-brush it, I use the Prismacolor silver pencil, like people use for weather chipping. Works very well, and its drop dead simple and precise. Then just use a fine pointer brush or even a toothpick to pit a few touches of color. 

Jon, its a very ipressive cockpit !

I was just thinking of how did you make those sidewalls to look so good ?

Did you use RAF interior green ? It looks a bit dark, doesn't  it ? 

Greg 

Jon-

Nice work on the Mk.IX's office! I'm very impressed with your drybrushing on the I/P, I've never been able to get the hang of that. Seat and sidewalls look good too.

Chris, Greg,

many thanks! I used blu-tack to mask the canopy, its good because it will conform to any shape and its re-usable.

Here's some WIP pics of my Hasegawa Mk. IX. I'm not super happy with it.... a little too sloppy. I've had a hard time focusing on building, so this has been more therapy than anything. Still, once it's buttoned up it oughta look OK.

The Hasegawa kit is a nice kit. Well detailed OOB. The belts are Eduard pre-painted belts- amazing little pieces of work. The kits came with an IP decal, but it didn't look very good. I either needed to sand the detail off and use the decal, or do it the old fashioned way. The IP was molded so nicely, I decided to scrap the decal and go with the old fashioned method.

Nice job Darren. I mean it. It looks awsome. Freehand ...hmmm ... OK. Not yet maybe next year.

What did you use to mask the cockpit ?

Greg 

Darren, you did that freehand... That is outstanding, you really have that weathered look!!

Chris

Right lads,

I've not had much time in the workshop, but here's what I've done this weekend:

Got the camo on. I did this freehand with lightened colours. I'm going for a well worn look here......

Painted the Sky fuselage band and the port engine panel in blue as the background colour for the noseart.

Here's some pics.........